Skip to content
Achievement Watcher Next
Download

Goldberg and GBE Fork setup

AW Next can read achievement saves produced by Goldberg, GBE Fork and compatible Steam-emulator layouts. It can also diagnose and repair a game’s local emulator configuration when the achievement schema, AppID or runtime files are incomplete.

[!WARNING] The repair tools are optional. They modify files inside the selected game directory, so use them only with games you own and keep any additional backup you consider important.

On this page

Schema and save files are different

Two unrelated files are commonly named achievements.json:

  Schema file Runtime save file
Typical location <game>\steam_settings\achievements.json %APPDATA%\GSE Saves\<appid>\achievements.json or %APPDATA%\Goldberg SteamEmu Saves\<appid>\achievements.json
Written by The game/emulator setup The emulator while the game runs
Purpose Defines achievement names, descriptions and icons Records which achievements have unlocked
When missing In-game achievement handling may be incomplete; AW Next can use another schema source The game correctly appears at 0% until the first unlock is written

A schema file does not prove that anything has unlocked. A runtime save that contains no earned entry is a valid 0% state. Both folders can exist at once for the same game - whichever one actually holds the unlocks is the one AW Next reads, regardless of which was created first.

  1. Add the game library or save root under Settings → Folders.
  2. Run Smart Find or Generate configs.
  3. If the game appears with missing data, right-click it and choose Diagnose emulator.
  4. Read the report before applying a repair.
  5. Use Apply emulator fix to install the runtime DLL and repair steam_settings together.
  6. Launch the game and unlock an achievement, then refresh AW Next if needed.

Automatic setup for newly discovered games is opt-in under Settings → Emulators → Steam / GBE Fork. With it off, a library scan never writes anything into a game folder on its own - not the DLL, not the configuration files, not even a missing achievements.json. Nothing changes on disk until you ask for a repair.

Settings - Steam / GBE Fork


Automatic repair, the DLC and identity switches, and the opt-in SteamStub unpacker

Context-menu actions

Emulator & tools context menu


Right-click a game → Emulator & tools

Diagnose emulator

Reports the detected emulator type, AppID, steam_settings location, schema and save counts, missing entries or icons, custom save paths and AppID mismatches, and whether the installed runtime is the one AW Next put there. Diagnosis is read-only.

Apply emulator fix

Repairs the runtime DLL and the schema in one step:

  • downloads and caches a matching GBE Fork release and installs the DLL architecture the game needs (steam_api.dll or steam_api64.dll), keeping any existing file as a backup;
  • builds steam_settings\achievements.json (and its images folder) to match the Steam achievement list, and downloads the icons;
  • writes steam_appid.txt when it is missing;
  • writes the GBE configuration files (configs.app.ini, configs.main.ini, configs.user.ini).

Every file it replaces is backed up first; schema repairs also keep timestamped copies under steam_settings\.aw-backups. The runtime is installed as a normal DLL replacement - AW Next does not configure a separate ColdClient launcher.

Packaged Unreal Engine builds are found and repaired the same way: their Steam files live under Engine\Binaries\ThirdParty\Steamworks rather than beside the executable, and AW Next installs and checks them there automatically.

DLC ownership and account identity

Two switches in Settings → Emulators → Steam / GBE Fork, both off by default and independent of automatic repair:

Setting What it writes
Manage DLC ownership Writes configs.app.ini so the emulator reports every DLC as owned.
Write account name and language Stamps your account name and language into configs.user.ini.

Neither one affects achievements. Leave them off to keep a game stock, or if you manage DLC or identity by hand.

The Emulator identity card below them says what gets written, so no other tool is needed for it:

| Field | What it does | |—|—| | Account name | Written while Write account name and language is on. Empty uses your AW Next profile name. | | Steam ID | Written while that switch is on; empty keeps each game’s own. The dice button makes a random valid one, and a typo is flagged as you type and never written. | | Save folder | Applies as soon as you choose one: every game fixed or repaired from then on saves there (local_save_path), and AW Next watches it for live notifications. Empty keeps %APPDATA%\GSE Saves. | Right-click a game and choose Remove AW Next’s emulator configuration to undo what either one wrote: it removes only the DLC section, switches and identity keys AW Next itself added, keeps every value you or the repack set, and deletes a file only when nothing else is left in it. It shows exactly what it will remove before doing anything.

Using your own emulator DLL

Settings → Emulators → Emulator DLL imports your own steam_api.dll or steam_api64.dll and installs it instead of the downloaded GBE Fork build, on every fix and every automatic fix. The architecture you do not import still comes from the official build, as do the interface tools.

An imported file is re-validated on every use: it must be a real PE of the architecture its name claims, and it must actually be a Steam emulator DLL. A file that fails any of those is reported and ignored rather than installed. Use the official build removes the import and returns to the downloaded release.

Remove Steam DRM (Steamless)

Attempts to unpack SteamStub from the selected executable when a DLL replacement cannot load. The original executable is kept as *.steamstub.bak. This action is not useful for games without SteamStub and does not bypass server-side ownership checks.

Back up and restore

Right-click Back up GBE/Goldberg setup to snapshot the current DLL and steam_settings files, or Restore latest GBE/Goldberg backup to bring one back. A backup notes when the folder already carried configuration AW Next had written, so it is never mistaken for the untouched original. Schema repairs also keep their own timestamped backups under steam_settings\.aw-backups.

Set AppID manually

When a game’s folder name matches several Steam releases and the automatic match picked the wrong one, right-click it and choose Set AppID manually. The AppID you enter is written to steam_appid.txt and remembered for that install folder, so later repairs use it instead of guessing again. Clear the manual AppID override, in the same menu, removes it.

Common problems

The game is missing

  • Start the emulator once so it creates a runtime save, or add the actual game library so install discovery can find steam_settings, steam_appid.txt or the Steam API DLL.
  • Confirm that the folder added to Settings is high enough to contain the game directory, but not an entire drive with unrelated data.
  • Run Generate configs and review the result count.

Every achievement remains locked

Check these causes in order:

  1. No achievement has unlocked yet. An absent or empty runtime save is expected.
  2. Schema names do not match the save keys. Run Diagnose emulator, then repair the schema.
  3. The save path is customized. Point AW Next at the actual save root or remove the placeholder override.
  4. The AppID is wrong. Use Set AppID manually before running another repair.

Descriptions or icons are missing

Run a full repair with icon download enabled. When online metadata is unavailable, AW Next can reuse a valid local schema, but it cannot invent descriptions that are absent from every source.

In-game notifications are missing but the library updates

The runtime save is being read, but the game’s own emulator schema or overlay may be incomplete. Confirm that steam_settings\achievements.json contains the same API names as the runtime save and valid icon paths.

Limitations

Some games do not report achievements through Steamworks at all, even when sold on Steam. Those titles cannot be tracked through a Goldberg/GBE save path. AW Next also cannot repair a game whose real identity or achievement schema cannot be resolved safely.

Review the technical Goldberg/GBE reference for file formats, detection rules and implementation details.

Next: Uplay setup, R1 and R2 - the Ubisoft equivalent, for games that do not load steam_api.dll.

← Documentation · Technical reference · Project home