MmmSkyscraper
Unconfirmed Member
I tried the most value sort order for 120 games and it didn't seem to get past trying to collect the values after 10 minutes. Is that normal or was Steam being wonky?
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Official Idle Master Thread - Get your Steam Trading Cards the Easy Way
- Thread starter jshackles
- Start date
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
How did I never know about this thread?
Deleted my cookies and this is what I see. :/
Whoops, that's what I mean. I don't have a steamlogin cookie.
Edit: Manged to get the cookies by installing chrome.
Not sure if it's a bug, but I added a game (Crimsonland) to my blacklist since the drops were excruciatingly slow. Restarted idle master and it got hung up on "Crimsonland on blacklist, skipping game" for 3-4 minutes. Afterward the first game in the queue began to idle, but Idle Master's count of games to idle is lower than the actual value.
If I don't blacklist the game count is correct. E.g. without Crimsonland on blacklist, IM counts 8 games total. With one game (Crimsonland) on blacklist, IM counts 4 games total.
If I don't blacklist the game count is correct. E.g. without Crimsonland on blacklist, IM counts 8 games total. With one game (Crimsonland) on blacklist, IM counts 4 games total.
D
Deleted member 125677
Unconfirmed Member
win 7 64bit
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
Just installed this.
It is working like a sleeping baby.
It is working like a sleeping baby.
jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
So I've decided to move forward with Idle Master by rewriting it as a C# application for Windows. There are a lot of reasons for this, which I'll try to cover here.
This is the initial screen you'd see, if Steam is not running and if Idle Master hasn't been authenticated
When you launch Steam, the program will detect that you're logged in and update itself accordingly.
When you click (Sign In) on the main screen, you'll be given a browser window and asked to log in. If you have Steam Guard enabled, you'll be prompted for that as well. Once you're logged in, Idle Master will automatically get the required information (sessionid and steamLogin cookie) and store it for future use.
now, the concept image:
Still needs some work, but as you can see it has a lot of potential. The timer in the corner will count down every second so you'll know exactly when the data will be refreshed. The progress bar shows how many cards you've idled vs how many are available (in this case 5/8, with 3 remaining)
The one down side is that OSX and Linux users will have to continue using the "older" version of Idle Master.
Thoughts?
- A Python console is not very interactive. Idle Master is a great "set it and forget it" kind of program, but when you want to interact with it in any way it gets cumbersome. By rebuilding it in C#, I'll be able to accomplish a lot more - like configuring the options in a GUI, provide progress bars, add the ability to skip a game or pause idling - these are just a few of the things I have planned.
- The initial setup can be simplified. Non-technical users aren't familiar with how browser cookies work or how to retrieve them properly and place them in a text file. Hell, even us technical users can struggle with this sometimes. This is by and large the #1 issue I hear about when it comes to supporting Idle Master. See screenshots below of how this will work in the new version.
- The program will show what's happening, at a glance. Sure, it's easy to check the logs in the current version of Idle Master, but it'd be a lot easier (again, for non-technical users who aren't used to looking at a command line) to just be able to see on the screen what the program is doing, and interact with it.
- The Steam cookie data won't interfere with your browsing session. With the new version of Idle Master, you'll be prompted for your Steam user name / password inside a web browser which will be protected by Steamguard. Because of this, logging in or out of Steam with your browser won't affect the cookie information. This is especially useful for people who typically use Steam from multiple IP addresses.
-
The application will run from a single executable file.The current Idle Master application uses a compiled Python script along with a C# application that places you "in-game". Because the first app has to launch the second, many people need administrator access to run Idle Master in newer versions of Windows. Additionally, some anti-virus programs were erroneously deleting the C# app (based only on it's "reputation score", not because it contained a virus) which could cause the app to work inconsistently.Apparently, this isn't possible with the Steamworks API. I guess they never considered the fact that a single app would launch multiple games. Steamworks uses a process model rather than a threading model, so the main program must launch a separate process (a different compiled EXE) for each game. It can still be accomplished visually with a single app, but there will be a separate process running that will be hidden and idling a game.
This is the initial screen you'd see, if Steam is not running and if Idle Master hasn't been authenticated
When you launch Steam, the program will detect that you're logged in and update itself accordingly.
When you click (Sign In) on the main screen, you'll be given a browser window and asked to log in. If you have Steam Guard enabled, you'll be prompted for that as well. Once you're logged in, Idle Master will automatically get the required information (sessionid and steamLogin cookie) and store it for future use.
*** All of this functionality up to this point is already working ***
now, the concept image:
Still needs some work, but as you can see it has a lot of potential. The timer in the corner will count down every second so you'll know exactly when the data will be refreshed. The progress bar shows how many cards you've idled vs how many are available (in this case 5/8, with 3 remaining)
The one down side is that OSX and Linux users will have to continue using the "older" version of Idle Master.
Thoughts?
electroflame
Member
Sounds great! I would still advise having a text file for the cookie data, as I know many people will be wary using their username + password, even though it's loading Steam's webpage.
This seems like it could potentially be great for phishers, though. Someone types in "idle master" in Google, gets some bogus download site, user downloads a custom compiled version that redirects to a lookalike steam community page for login, etc.
I'm all for user-friendliness, but I could forsee this being an issue.
Aside from that, it looks extremely awesome.
This seems like it could potentially be great for phishers, though. Someone types in "idle master" in Google, gets some bogus download site, user downloads a custom compiled version that redirects to a lookalike steam community page for login, etc.
I'm all for user-friendliness, but I could forsee this being an issue.
Aside from that, it looks extremely awesome.
jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Good point. This program will have a full suite of options that will be configurable through the GUI - starting with the stuff that's already available like creating a blacklist, choosing how the program will determine the sort order of idled games, etc. I'll probably add a space on that page where you'll be able to enter your own info if you'd like.
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
Easiest $3 I've ever made.
Is this winter?
Because things just got hot up in here.
JShackles does what Newelldon't.
Screenshots and mock ups *these are not final and will definitely change*
This is the initial screen you'd see, if Steam is not running and if Idle Master hasn't been authenticated
When you launch Steam, the program will detect that you're logged in and update itself accordingly.
When you click (Sign In) on the main screen, you'll be given a browser window and asked to log in. If you have Steam Guard enabled, you'll be prompted for that as well. Once you're logged in, Idle Master will automatically get the required information (sessionid and steamLogin cookie) and store it for future use.
*** All of this functionality up to this point is already working ***
now, the concept image:
Still needs some work, but as you can see it has a lot of potential. The timer in the corner will count down every second so you'll know exactly when the data will be refreshed. The progress bar shows how many cards you've idled vs how many are available (in this case 5/8, with 3 remaining)
The one down side is that OSX and Linux users will have to continue using the "older" version of Idle Master.
Thoughts?
Is this winter?
Because things just got hot up in here.
JShackles does what Newelldon't.
jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Progress is being made...
This is pretty exciting because it means I've been able to capture the cookie data and attach it to a .NET web request that's returning the relevant information that a user would see if they were logged in. This is crucial to Idle Master, because it's how it determines what games still have cards available and how many drops remain for each game. Without the cookie data, it just returns your public badge page which only shows your completed badges.
This is pretty exciting because it means I've been able to capture the cookie data and attach it to a .NET web request that's returning the relevant information that a user would see if they were logged in. This is crucial to Idle Master, because it's how it determines what games still have cards available and how many drops remain for each game. Without the cookie data, it just returns your public badge page which only shows your completed badges.
autoduelist
Member
well, i finally broke down and installed this (thank you - instructions were cake).
I don't know much about steam card trading yet, but will research it. in the meantime, a simple question... what's the easiest/most profitable thing to do with the cards this generates?
Just sell them straight up?
86 games to idle. I don't even know if that's a lot or not.
I don't know much about steam card trading yet, but will research it. in the meantime, a simple question... what's the easiest/most profitable thing to do with the cards this generates?
Just sell them straight up?
86 games to idle. I don't even know if that's a lot or not.
jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Hands down, selling the card drops is the most profitable thing to do with your trading cards. With 86 games to idle, let's say with an average of 3 cards each, and each card worth maybe $0.08 on average, that's $20.64 in your Steam wallet. Of course, your results may vary based on the games you have (games with anime cards typically sell for more $$$), how many card drops each has, and what the individual cards are worth.
autoduelist
Member
Okay, makes sense.
So that begs another question from a card newb -- it's really clear that prices dropped hard on or around the 18th -- I'm guessing that was with the introduction of the whole gem thing people have been talking about (but I've skimmed over).
I've idled quite a few cards so far that were worth around 25 cents only a week ago, down to 12 cents or so now. Are gems a short lived holiday thing, and will card prices slowly rise again? Or are they more likely to continue to drop?
I realize this is a commodity and there's no clear, definite answer (especially given Steam overlords can always throw a wrench into the market like they did with gems)... but I'm wondering what the general consensus was.
jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
So I just got my first card drop using the new version of Idle Master, and it went perfectly.
A few things it did when it detected that the card had dropped:
A few things it did when it detected that the card had dropped:
- Changed "878 card drops remaining" (what it said before) to "877 card drops remaining". This is the total number of card drops the program has detected it can idle before it's finished.
- Updated the progress bar below the image banner to reflect that I've earned 1/4 of the game's card drops. *Design not final.
- Updated the text in the lower right to say "3 card drops remaining" (note: this will be in your Steam language)
jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Lots of progress has been made in Idle Master today. Sorry in advance for the screenshot-heavy post here.
So the first thing I want to show is that Idle Master is making all of it's HTTP requests asynchronously now, so as not to be blocking the UI application thread. What this means in layman's terms is that Idle Master can have indicators that it's working and that it won't freeze up while making web requests. The python application would (technically) freeze up while making web requests also, but because nothing was happening on the screen between the beginning and end of these requests it wasn't really noticeable.
The new version of Idle Master has stuff you can do. Maybe, while it's pulling a list of the games you need to idle, you'd like to go into the settings and make a change. Now you can. As such, I've added a spinning wheel indicator and a message saying "Reading badge page, please wait..." while it's doing just that.
Next, I've added the ability to pause idling and the ability to move on to the next game in your idling queue. There have been a huge number of requests for this functionality in the python version and it simply wasn't feasible to implement (due to the lack of a true UI). With the new version of Idle Master, it's not only possible but also very easy.
You can pause or skip either from the top menu or from the buttons on the form itself. Once paused the form will look like this
indicating that idling is paused. Again, from the menu or from the buttons (now "Play" instead of "Pause") you can resume at any time. This is cool because if Idle Master is idling and you'd like to play a game, you can simply pause Idle Master and start playing another game on Steam. Once you're done, you can easily resume idling from the same screen. NOTE: If you're going to be connecting to a VAC secured server while playing, I still recommend you completely close Idle Master, just to be on the safe side.
I've also got a basic settings screen programmed
from here you'll be able to make changes to the way Idle Master behaves. Everything here is working in the latest build. So if you'd like Idle Master to minimize to the system tray instead of the task bar, you can enable that feature here. You can also set your sorting options (currently limited to alphabetically or by most or least drops). This page will expand as more features are added. Additionally, if you change the sorting options while Idling is taking place, Idle Master will automatically take you out of the current game, resort the list of games you need to idle, and start idling the game you've chosen to prioritize.
So when everything is working, you should see something similar to this screen:
As cards drop and games are idled, the numbers in the middle of the program will decrease. The progress bar in the program's footer will give you a progress indicator of how many cards you've obtained. The lower right will show you when Idle Master will check again with Steam to see your progress (still every 15 minutes, or 5 minutes if you only have one drop remaining).
Finally, the "About" box is basic but effective
with a shout out to my man Dr Dogg for the awesome animated GIF that will play there.
The latest version of Idle Master has sure come a long way, and it's almost ready for release. I'm working on polishing the application as much as possible, and I've got a few features to add still - both old and new. The new version of Idle Master does everything the old one does, with the exception of
So the first thing I want to show is that Idle Master is making all of it's HTTP requests asynchronously now, so as not to be blocking the UI application thread. What this means in layman's terms is that Idle Master can have indicators that it's working and that it won't freeze up while making web requests. The python application would (technically) freeze up while making web requests also, but because nothing was happening on the screen between the beginning and end of these requests it wasn't really noticeable.
The new version of Idle Master has stuff you can do. Maybe, while it's pulling a list of the games you need to idle, you'd like to go into the settings and make a change. Now you can. As such, I've added a spinning wheel indicator and a message saying "Reading badge page, please wait..." while it's doing just that.
Next, I've added the ability to pause idling and the ability to move on to the next game in your idling queue. There have been a huge number of requests for this functionality in the python version and it simply wasn't feasible to implement (due to the lack of a true UI). With the new version of Idle Master, it's not only possible but also very easy.
You can pause or skip either from the top menu or from the buttons on the form itself. Once paused the form will look like this
indicating that idling is paused. Again, from the menu or from the buttons (now "Play" instead of "Pause") you can resume at any time. This is cool because if Idle Master is idling and you'd like to play a game, you can simply pause Idle Master and start playing another game on Steam. Once you're done, you can easily resume idling from the same screen. NOTE: If you're going to be connecting to a VAC secured server while playing, I still recommend you completely close Idle Master, just to be on the safe side.
I've also got a basic settings screen programmed
from here you'll be able to make changes to the way Idle Master behaves. Everything here is working in the latest build. So if you'd like Idle Master to minimize to the system tray instead of the task bar, you can enable that feature here. You can also set your sorting options (currently limited to alphabetically or by most or least drops). This page will expand as more features are added. Additionally, if you change the sorting options while Idling is taking place, Idle Master will automatically take you out of the current game, resort the list of games you need to idle, and start idling the game you've chosen to prioritize.
So when everything is working, you should see something similar to this screen:
As cards drop and games are idled, the numbers in the middle of the program will decrease. The progress bar in the program's footer will give you a progress indicator of how many cards you've obtained. The lower right will show you when Idle Master will check again with Steam to see your progress (still every 15 minutes, or 5 minutes if you only have one drop remaining).
Finally, the "About" box is basic but effective
with a shout out to my man Dr Dogg for the awesome animated GIF that will play there.
The latest version of Idle Master has sure come a long way, and it's almost ready for release. I'm working on polishing the application as much as possible, and I've got a few features to add still - both old and new. The new version of Idle Master does everything the old one does, with the exception of
- Blacklist of apps you don't want to idle
- Setting your idling priority by the value of it's trading cards
- a setting to only idle games that have existing play time
This new version is looking great.
Does this new version start idling immediately on launch? I'd like to be able to schedule it as a task in Windows so that it can check for and idle games even when I'm not at home so that I can return to a bunch of fresh cards to sell, or even just by logging into Steam on the web when I have a minute to kill.
Also, something I'd have liked with the current version, though not really important, is the ability to automatically exit when 0 cards remain.
Does this new version start idling immediately on launch? I'd like to be able to schedule it as a task in Windows so that it can check for and idle games even when I'm not at home so that I can return to a bunch of fresh cards to sell, or even just by logging into Steam on the web when I have a minute to kill.
Also, something I'd have liked with the current version, though not really important, is the ability to automatically exit when 0 cards remain.
jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Thanks! One feature I'm working on that should be totally possible is the ability for Idle Master to continue looking for cards once it's finished Idling. When it's not idling a game, it could check every 20-30 minutes to see if you have any games that need idled. If it finds something, it'll go to work. Once it's finished, it'll go back to checking for games on a timer.
That way, you can leave it running all the time and it'll catch those games that recently got cards or any new games you purchase while you're out.
This new version is also completely automated like the old version so as long as Steam is running and the cookie data it has saved is valid, it will start idling right away when it's launched. Conceivably you could start it as a scheduled task if you wanted it to start at a certain time.
Excellent. Thanks.
Is it possible for Idle Master to see if my library is in use with family sharing? Having it run and periodically check for new cards is really great, but I wouldn't want someone to get kicked out of a game when it finds some.
jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Unfortunately, Steam doesn't expose this through the Steamworks API. I believe the API can indicate whether a game your running passes a family sharing license check - but this is only for the borrower, not the library owner. So unfortunately, running Idle Master will kick someone who is playing a game from your library. Sorry.
Unfortunately, Steam doesn't expose this through the Steamworks API. I believe the API can indicate whether a game your running passes a family sharing license check - but this is only for the borrower, not the library owner. So unfortunately, running Idle Master will kick someone who is playing a game from your library. Sorry.
Bummer. Thanks anyway. It's still ridiculously helpful and convenient without that one extra bit of automation.
Mhmmm 2077
Member
Can you make it show the amount of games eligible to receive a booster pack? If that's too much work, then don't do it.
jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Steam Idle Master 0.7 has been released. This version has been rewritten in C# and runs on Microsoft Windows. You can obtain this new version directly from the new Idle Master website at www.steamidlemaster.com.
This new version includes a lot of new features including the ability to pause / resume idling, skip the current idling game, and to minimize the application to the system tray. It also includes a drastically simplified setup procedure (no more messing with browser cookies and text files). Additionally, once installed Idle Master will periodically check to make sure you're running the latest version.
The source code for this version is available on Github, along with the non-Windows Python applications which are no longer being developed. Because of the shift in programming languages, there may be bugs. I'm happy to assist in any way I can.
This new version includes a lot of new features including the ability to pause / resume idling, skip the current idling game, and to minimize the application to the system tray. It also includes a drastically simplified setup procedure (no more messing with browser cookies and text files). Additionally, once installed Idle Master will periodically check to make sure you're running the latest version.
The source code for this version is available on Github, along with the non-Windows Python applications which are no longer being developed. Because of the shift in programming languages, there may be bugs. I'm happy to assist in any way I can.
Haunted
Member
Also had to restart after setup because the sign-in took a long time and log in a second time, but then it started working.
Even though I thought the browser cookie thing was easy to handle, it's what kept some friends of mine from using the program. With the new GUI and automatic setup, there's no excuse anymore!
*thumbs up
Even though I thought the browser cookie thing was easy to handle, it's what kept some friends of mine from using the program. With the new GUI and automatic setup, there's no excuse anymore!
*thumbs up
jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Also had to restart after setup because the sign-in took a long time and log in a second time, but then it started working.
Even though I thought the browser cookie thing was easy to handle, it's what kept some friends of mine from using the program. With the new GUI and automatic setup, there's no excuse anymore!
*thumbs up
Thanks. The nice thing is that with the new version I'll be able to publish incremental updates out that will be automatically deployed to the end users, so I can fix little bugs like this and you won't need to redownload / reinstall / reconfigure like you did with the old version.
I've also updated the OP with new images and the new logo, as well as updated the instructions and things. I still have a link to chixdiggit's Youtube video for the old version, but if someone would like to make an updated video showing how easy it is to set up, that would be great!
Is there any chance that the new C# version could come to Linux (via the Mono runtime)? It looks like the exe itself should work fine (according to the Mono Migration Analyser) but it can't access the Windows dlls. I can build the project in Monodevelop on Linux, and find Linux versions of a few of the missing libraries/dlls but I get a System.DllNotFoundException for CSteamworks.dll when it checks if Steam is running.
If it's too much trouble to get it running then I'm happy to use the old python one, but the new version looks very nice and it might be quite easy to make it work cross-platform.
If it's too much trouble to get it running then I'm happy to use the old python one, but the new version looks very nice and it might be quite easy to make it work cross-platform.
The new Idle Master is great. I have a few suggestions
- Whitelist, able to prioritize which games to idle first
- Show game names in the blacklist/whitelist
- Start button to start idle. I don't really want to start idle as soon as the app is started
- When idling, dont restart idling process when settings window is saved and closed. Instead let the app ask if you want to restart
After it was done idling the one game I had cards left in, this started happening.
The minus count is growing every few seconds or so.
Yeah I'm getting this too.
Expanded suggestion regarding the blacklist
List all games that have card drops left. From this list select which games to blacklist or whitelist.
Bluebomberimo
Neo Member
this update is super nice, if anything I like how it looks now and not having to spend so much time fishing out my cookies whenever they decide to change is a plus.
The new version looks great, runs great too, really excellent work
The only question is, was the sort order based on potential sale prices removed temporarily or gone for good?
Also, based on the post above with the error (which I got too), you might want to publish the Release build, not the Debug one
The only question is, was the sort order based on potential sale prices removed temporarily or gone for good?
Also, based on the post above with the error (which I got too), you might want to publish the Release build, not the Debug one
jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Thanks for the suggestions, I'll take a look and see what I can do.
The new version looks great, runs great too, really excellent work
The only question is, was the sort order based on potential sale prices removed temporarily or gone for good?
Also, based on the post above with the error (which I got too), you might want to publish the Release build, not the Debug one
The sorting by card prices was only temporarily removed. I didn't want to implement it the same way I did before (which got the card values each time the program was run) so instead I'm working on having the program cache these values. I'm also working on a progress indicator for users (like me) who have a lot of games with card drops so you can see the status of how the requests are being handled.
And yeah, I'll be pushing out the Release build next time.
I'm planning on also releasing a "portable" version of Idle Master, that will just be a zipped directory you can unpack anywhere and run. The downside will be that this portable version won't be able to update itself automatically. The upside is that you'll be able to right-click on the program and run as administrator if needed.
Having the same problem as Tschis, it seems.
(Getting a Microsoft .NET Framework-Popup when trying to start the new Idle Master, telling me that "the remote server returns an error (403): forbidden." And then lots of stuff in the "details"-window like what Tschis posted)
I checked .NET Framework, I have the version you linkes installed.
(Getting a Microsoft .NET Framework-Popup when trying to start the new Idle Master, telling me that "the remote server returns an error (403): forbidden." And then lots of stuff in the "details"-window like what Tschis posted)
I checked .NET Framework, I have the version you linkes installed.
jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Are you using Steam Family View (which usually requires you to enter your PIN number when logging in and such)? The current version doesn't account for this and will throw that error. I hope to have it fixed up soon.