Ascendara Achievement Watcher

Ascendara Achievement Watcher monitors and notifies users of game achievements in real time on the Ascendara platform. Built in JavaScript and optimized for Windows, it is based on achievement-watcher by xan105, but is heavily modified for seamless Ascendara integration.

Compared to the original achievement-watcher, the Ascendara version:

• Removes the original notification system
• Integrates with Ascendara's notification helper for a unified user experience
• Streamlines the codebase to focus on core achievement tracking

• Real-time monitoring of achievement/stat files
• Rich, customizable notifications for unlocked achievements
• Single-instance enforcement to prevent duplicate processes
• Full support for both standard and custom Ascendara games
• Automatic updates of achievement state files
• Spam protection to avoid duplicate notifications
• Process-aware: notifies only if the game is running
• Multi-language support via Steam API code mapping
• Robust error handling and detailed logging

Achievement Watcher runs as a background process, typically started by Ascendara. There is no standalone CLI; all activity is logged to the console and status files for platform integration.

Workflow#

1. Initialization:
   • Ensures only one instance runs
   • Loads settings and environment variables
2. Folder Monitoring:
   • Uses node-watch to monitor configured directories/files
3. File Change Handling:
   • Parses achievement data on updates
   • Applies spam protection
   • Verifies the game is running
4. Notification:
   • Triggers notifications via AscendaraNotificationHelper.exe
   • Updates achievement cache and state files
5. State Update:
   • Writes to achievements.ascendara.json (standard games) or achievementWater in games.json (custom games)

• Language: Maps user language to Steam API codes using steam.json
• Configuration: Reads from ascendarasettings.json and environment variables
• Persistence: Caches achievement state for all games
• Error Handling: Logs errors and warnings, fails gracefully
• Dependencies: single-instance, node-watch, moment, and standard Node.js modules

1. User unlocks an achievement
2. Watcher detects the file change
3. If new and not previously notified, triggers a notification
4. Updates and persists achievement state

The Ascendara Achievement Watcher is a stripped down version of Achievement Watcher by xan105, and more specifically the watchdog used by the Achievement Watcher project.