Achievement Watcher Next
Game Health
When a game does not behave the way you expect, open its Game Health panel before anything else. It is the one place that says whether AW Next can see the game, read its achievements and announce its unlocks - and it offers only the repairs that can genuinely fix that game.
Open it from the tools button in the top-right corner of a game tile, or from the game’s right-click menu. The same panel carries two more tabs: Executable, which sets the program to watch while you play, and Notifications, where that one game can take its own popup preset, position, sound and scale - see Per-game behavior.
One state, the reason for it, the checks behind it, and the repairs that apply
The three states
| State | What it means |
|---|---|
| Ready | The game is detected, its achievement data is available, and AW Next is watching it for unlocks. |
| Needs attention | The game works, but part of its setup is incomplete. The checks show which part. |
| Not tracking | Something essential is missing - the game cannot be located, or it has no achievement data at all. |
The sentence under the state explains the cause in plain words. The checks under that show which part is at fault, and any repair button acts on exactly that.
The checks
| Check | What it answers |
|---|---|
| Game files | Is the install folder still there? |
| Executable | Which program should be watched while you play? |
| Game identity | Which AppID and platform was this game matched to? |
| Achievement data | Is there an achievement list, and is it complete? |
| Emulator setup | Does a game that needs a Steam emulator have one, and which one is serving it? |
| Offline achievements | For a Ubisoft game, did it ever ask the loader to unlock anything, or does it think it is signed out? |
| Progress | Has any unlock or save been found yet? |
| Live tracking | Is the background tracker watching this game’s process? |
| Notifications | Which transport delivered the last notification for this game, and why? |
In Simple interface mode the checks state outcomes - Achievement data found, Tracking active, Game saves detected. In Advanced they carry the exact counts, the watched process and the notification transport. Technical details at the bottom holds every raw value in both modes; copy it into a bug report.
[!NOTE] Game identity is a diagnostic value rather than something to act on, so Simple mode leaves it out of the list. It is still in Technical details.
The repairs
Only the repairs that can fix the game in front of you are shown.
| Repair | What it does |
|---|---|
| Locate the game | Opens a picker so you can choose the executable to watch. |
| Open the game folder | Opens the install folder in Explorer. |
| Rewrite the achievement data | Writes the achievement list, icons and emulator settings. Existing files are copied to a backup first. |
| Repair Ubisoft achievement support | For a compatible Ubisoft game, rewrites the loader configuration, schema and save redirection in one transaction, with every touched file backed up - see Uplay setup. |
| Enable achievements offline | Only for a Ubisoft game whose own loader log proves it never asked for an achievement, because it believes it is signed out. Adds one placeholder session key to the INI beside the game, and nothing else. Press it again to take the key back out - see Uplay setup. |
| Restore the emulator file | Downloads the supported emulator build and installs it into the game folder, keeping any existing file as a backup. |
| Correct the game ID file | Rewrites steam_appid.txt when the emulator announces one game and AW Next matched another. Both values are shown, and the previous file is kept. |
| Watch this game | Adds the game to the background tracker so playtime and live unlocks are recorded. |
| Unmute progress notifications | Turns progress notifications back on for a game you muted. |
| Send a test notification | Fires a notification carrying this game’s own name and artwork, through the transport it would really use. |
Every repair says what it will change and where the previous files are kept. Nothing is rewritten without a backup, and no repair runs without a confirmation.
[!IMPORTANT] Correct the game ID file is a confirmed choice, never automatic. A mismatch can equally mean the library card is the part that is wrong - if the emulator was set up on purpose for the ID on disk, leave it alone.
Common states and what to do
| The panel says | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| No achievement list could be found | The game has no achievements at all, or its source is switched off. Check Settings → Sources. |
| This game needs a Steam emulator and none is set up | Use Apply emulator fix from the game’s right-click menu - see Goldberg / GBE setup. |
| The emulator file that reads it is missing | Restore the emulator file puts the matching runtime back. |
| The achievement list doesn’t match what the game will look for | Rewrite the achievement data. This is the usual result of a repack update. |
| No achievement progress has been found yet | Normal for a game you have not played since setting it up. Launch it and unlock something. |
| AW Next isn’t watching this game while it runs | Watch this game adds it to the tracker. |
| The last notification could not be sent | Send a test notification, then see Notifications. |
| Working - Windows fallback active | Not a fault. Automatic delivery chose a Windows notification for this game; see how Automatic decides. |
| The game has never asked for an achievement | It reads its empty Ubisoft session as signed out. Enable achievements offline unblocks it; nothing is sent anywhere. Launch the game once afterwards - the row then reads Offline achievements on, launch the game once until you have. |
| Offline achievements on, launch the game once | The setting is written and nothing has been judged yet. The button beside it now reads Turn offline achievements off, and takes it back out. |
| Served by ALI213, OnlineFix, GBE Fork… | The emulator actually reading that game, named from its own files. A Ubisoft game already served this way is not offered a Uplay repair: its Uplay layer is unused, not broken. |
Next: Troubleshooting - for problems Game Health does not resolve on its own.