Raptr is probably one of the best gaming clients out there and it stands out from the rest of the pack due to its powerful social integration. Of course, gaming clients like Xfire do exist and perhaps, Xfire has the largest community but Xfire is still the same old. It lacks a modern-ism and there isn't much social integration inside Xfire even if it hosts one of the world's largest gaming community. Xfire is definitely for the hardcore gamer but if you're looking for more social support, Xfire doesn't stand a chance with Raptr.
Raptr has been my favourite ever since I first used it. It was rather a cool way of showing off your gaming life through social communities like Facebook and Twitter and it seamlessly integrated with the two to provide a perfect experience. Whenever I started playing a game or whenever I finish a game or whenever I get achievements via Steam or Xbox, it automatically posts to Facebook about the moment and people can see them and like them. But that just doesn't conclude it.
Raptr also has a good gaming community with many members and its seamlessly integrated with your game like Xfire though Xfire has a better in-gaming client IMO. Still, you can chat with your friends, browse the web or do any other stuff without having to quit the game. Moreover, Raptr also offers rewards if you complete specific set of tasks in a game and these are fantastic. Once, I got free WoW Xbox Avatar T-Shirts after completing a reward and since I'm not so used to playing online, I missed many others.
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| The Raptr dock and My Games window. The Chat window shows your buddies from Raptr, Facebook, Steam, Xbox and more! |
Now, that was a quick introduction to Raptr for those who don't know much about it. If you are interested in Raptr, you can download the latest client right from here. Create an account and login with your credentials to start gaming and earning rewards.
Now, back to the subject. Even though Raptr has an updated game database, sometimes, it fails to detect a game existing in my PC. Often, these are either very new games or a very old game. Sometimes, Raptr detects Steam version only and Retail users are left blank. Even if you try adding the game manually, it won't do much good as Raptr would check for Steam executable most times. Moreover, Raptr may have made mistakes on the path of the game executable and hence, if you installed on a different path, the game won't be detected and added to your game library.
It takes some time for Raptr to rectify these errors and most of us are impatient when it comes to gaming. So, how can we fix this? The trick is to edit the .json file Raptr uses to store the game database and change the paths and executables in order for your game to be detected. This is fairly simple and you just need a text editor like Notepad or Notepad++. So, let's get into it!
Raptr doesn't detect most of the pirated games as they differ from the original version. Either, it maybe the path or the executable. If it is a Steam game, Raptr won't detect your game at all as it checks the Steam.exe for Steam games instead of directly adding the game. Moreover, the paths in the registry are different too. So, by tweaking the .json file, you can even add pirated games to your Raptr library.I didn't create this post to give help to those who rely on pirated games. I made this post for those who have trouble detecting a game on Raptr even if the game's genuine. So, don't consider this as a post to help those who are involved in piracy. Steam offers great discounts and if you are really a true gamer, do buy the game and support the devs who created it. I won't provide any help regarding pirated games.
Editing the Database
1. Open the File Explorer and type %appdata% in the address bar and hit Enter.
2. Open the Raptr folder and then open the Data folder.
3. The file we are going to edit is game_detection_pc.json but you may not be able to directly edit this file and save it from the folder itself. Hence, copy the file and paste it somewhere.
4. Now, double click the file you pasted and choose Open With. Now, select any text editor from the list. You can use Notepad for instance.
5. A long list of codes will appear. Make sure you switch on Word Wrap so that you can find the parameters to change easily.
6. Now, we need to find the game whose parameters must be changed. The only way to find your game parameters is to search. For example, if the game you're looking for is Tomb Raider, just enter Tomb Raider and search. Since there are many games with the title Tomb Raider, its pretty difficult to recognize the correct one. Usually, new games with similar titles appear below the rest. Search and make sure you found the game you're looking for. Once you found the line supporting the game you wanted, you can move on and change the parameters.
7. Now, lets get into editing. For me, I want Raptr to detect Tomb Raider. So, I followed the above steps and got my game library file. I opened the .json file with Notepad++ and searched for Tomb Raider and found the one I wanted to change. Here's a screenshot of how it looks.
8. Some of the values that determine the detection of a game are -- regkey, gameexe and launchexe. You can note the default values for these in the above screenshot. Those are the values I need to change in order to make Raptr detect Tomb Raider.
The gameexe is TombRaider.exe itself but the path is for Steam installation. Since I've installed the game somewhere else, I would remove the whole path from the gameexe value and just give TombRaider.exe there.
Now, in order to skip Steam check, you need to change the value for launchexe too. By default, it checks Steam to see whether the game is installed. If I change this to TombRaider.exe, Raptr will see if TombRaider.exe exists instead of checking Steam for the installation.
For the final part, you need to change the regkey value to simply InstallPath. After finishing, my new .json file looks like this:
9. Now, once you've done your edits, simply save it. Now, copy this file and paste it over to the Data folder inside the Raptr folder in %appdata%. Replace if asked.
10. In order to prevent Raptr from updating the .json file automatically, you can change the file to read-only. To do this, right click on the .json file and select properties. Tick the read-only box and save.
11. Open Raptr and select My Games. Click the wrench button on top right and select Manage Installed Games. Again, click the Wrench button and select Manually Add a Game. From the drop down menu, select the game you want to add. Click Broswe and select the folder where the game is installed and click OK. That's it! The game will be added to your Raptr library. Now, you can start playing and Raptr will track your gametime.
Disadvantages
Although this is quite useful for adding the games to Raptr library, it is always a temporary change. Since new games come up each and every day, Raptr updates the existing .json file with a new .json file thereby overwriting all the existing data in the current file. You can't simply stop Raptr from updating this file as it happens every time you open Raptr.
I'm not sure but making the .json file Read Only seems to do the trick and Raptr will stop updating the library file once you do this. But if you get a new game, you must untick Read Only option and allow Raptr to update the game file in order for Raptr to get database on the new game. As I said, this change is temporary as you would want to change the settings once again when you get a new game or update Raptr.
As this is a tiring job, just change the parameters for the game you're playing right now only as adding all the details again is a tiring job. Moreover, inform Raptr if you have problems of your games getting detected and they will fix the problem soon.
I hope you guys found the article you were looking for. If this worked for you and you loved the article, do rate it and do give your valuable comments to me. Please not that I won't give help for pirated games if that's what's bothering you but the right tweak can always work.
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