Mist - a portable, open-source Steam client that lets you chat/trade on any computer - Games

Hey everyone, long-time lurker of Facepunch here. I've recently completed a small program I'm pretty proud of, and I'd like to share it with you guys today. =====What is Mist?===== Mist is a portable, open-source Steam client written in C# that allows the user to chat and trade TF2 items. It's only ~800KB! Mist is something I decided to write because I love doing trades, even away from home. Unfortunately I wasn't always able to go on Steam and trade due to restrictions on installing software, for example, and would miss out on business deals. So Mist is intended to be a solution for that. It's portable and doesn't require Steam, which means that you can put it on a flash drive and bring it anywhere with you. Mist is built on top of [URL="https://github.com/Jessecar96/SteamBot/"]SteamBot[/URL] and heavily uses its underlying functions to handle chat and trading. And of course, it is open-source as well :) =====Features===== * Works with SteamGuard - no need to disable it to use Mist * Chat with friends * Trade TF2 items - you are limited to trading only TF2 items for now. Adding other types of items will cause the trade to expire. * Change display name and status * Add friends * Block/ignore friends * Backpack viewer - view anyone's backpack directly from within the program! * SteamRep Checker - check any of your friends' SteamRep status * More to come? =====What doesn't work===== * F̶r̶i̶e̶n̶d̶ ̶r̶e̶q̶u̶e̶s̶t̶s̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶s̶h̶o̶w̶n̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶M̶i̶s̶t̶.̶ ̶Y̶o̶u̶ ̶w̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶a̶c̶c̶e̶p̶t̶/̶i̶g̶n̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶m̶ ̶m̶a̶n̶u̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶v̶i̶a̶ ̶s̶t̶e̶a̶m̶c̶o̶m̶m̶u̶n̶i̶t̶y̶.̶c̶o̶m̶.̶ ̶T̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶f̶e̶a̶t̶u̶r̶e̶ ̶w̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶i̶m̶p̶l̶e̶m̶e̶n̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶l̶a̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶r̶e̶l̶e̶a̶s̶e̶ [b]This has now been added[/b] * Can only trade TF2 items * Occasionally adding items will cause the trade to crash and expire. This is rare but it happens * Searching for friends - this is planned for a later release * [B]Linux support[/B] - unfortunately Mist is not compatible with Linux, using either Mono or Wine. Some of the libraries used are incompatible. A separate Linux release is planned in the future, if demand is high enough. =====Feedback, Contributions and Suggestions===== [B]Got an idea for a feature? Want to contribute?[/B] Please report all bugs and suggestions by opening a new issue on [URL="https://github.com/waylaidwanderer/Mist/issues"]the Mist repo[/URL] on GitHub. If you would like to contribute and make your own changes, check out [URL="https://github.com/waylaidwanderer/Mist/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md"]how to contribute[/URL]. =====Source Code===== Mist is open-source and licensed under the [URL="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html"]GPL[/URL]. As such, you are free to peruse the code and even contribute to it. The source code can be found on GitHub. Check it out [URL="https://github.com/waylaidwanderer/Mist"]here[/URL]. You can compile Mist directly from source if you'd like. =====Download Mist===== You can always find the latest version of Mist on the Steam Group [URL="http://steamcommunity.com/groups/MistClient/discussions/0/810919057023360607/"]here[/URL]. All versions of Mist requires .NET 4.0 to run. A Steam API key is also required. Get one from [URL="http://steamcommunity.com/dev/apikey"]here[/URL]. =====Screenshots Gallery===== [URL="http://imgur.com/a/h4NG8"]View screenshots of Mist.[/URL]

Huh

[QUOTE=Justnobody;39951976]Huh[/QUOTE] Basically it's a tiny, open-source and portable Steam client.

this sort of tool + valve = one-way ticket to a bad place

May just be me, but this looks like an attempt to steal accounts. [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/IcX0XLP.png[/IMG][IMG]http://i.imgur.com/IcX0XLP.png[/IMG]

[QUOTE=Hell-met;39952000]this sort of tool + valve = one-way ticket to a bad place[/QUOTE] Have you ever heard of TF2wh.com or scrap.tf? Mist works very similarly to that, especially in regards to scrap.tf as their bots are designed using the same underlying framework (SteamBot). While action has been taken against TF2wh.com before, none of the accounts have ever been banned. As far as I know, Valve doesn't mind this kind of client, as long as it "doesn't give advantages over other users" ([url]http://www.jengerer.com/item_manager/[/url]) - see email from Robin Walker ([url]http://www.jengerer.com/item_manager/email_valve.png[/url]) [QUOTE=SockFC;39952010]May just be me, but this looks like an attempt to steal accounts. [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/IcX0XLP.png[/IMG][IMG]http://i.imgur.com/IcX0XLP.png[/IMG][/QUOTE] Source code is [URL="https://github.com/waylaidwanderer/Mist"]right here[/URL]. Feel free to examine the code yourself.

Can I ask what the advantage to this over regular steam is..?

Someone verify it

[QUOTE=LightFlock;39952076]Can I ask what the advantage to this over regular steam is..?[/QUOTE] All the files included are about 800KB in size in total. Mist is pretty fast and lightweight (and in my honest opinion does a lot of things faster than regular Steam, especially trading), and it's good for if you're travelling but can't bring your laptop with you, but you do have a computer you can use. Mist can run just fine from a flash drive. TL;DR: Fast, small, portable Steam client

[QUOTE=jhang;39952105]All the files included are about 800KB in size in total. Mist is pretty fast and lightweight, and it's good for if you're travelling but can't bring your laptop with you, but you do have a computer you can use. Mist can run just fine from a flash drive. TL;DR: Fast, small, portable Steam client[/QUOTE] Seems okay. My laptop which I use now and then when I'm away runs like crap with Steam open, this might be pretty useful.

[QUOTE=LightFlock;39952115]Seems okay. My laptop which I use now and then when I'm away runs like crap with Steam open, this might be pretty useful.[/QUOTE] You sound perfect as the intended audience of Mist, then :) As an addendum, you don't need to install Mist; just unzip and run it. It works right out of the box.

-snip-

but... tf2wh logs you "oficcially" into steam, this one doesn't, someone try it with an alt

[QUOTE=Cosa8888;39952190]but... tf2wh logs you "oficcially" into steam, this one doesn't, someone try it with an alt[/QUOTE] TF2WH logs you in with OpenID; this one does pretty much everything via the Steam API.

Might I suggest for your next "update" you add more visual aspects? Right now it looks a little boxy and im-trying-to-not-look-like-a-virusy. Of course, you should probably keep a doesn't-use-much-memory version.

[QUOTE=LightFlock;39952214]Might I suggest for your next "update" you add more visual aspects? Right now it looks a little boxy and im-trying-to-not-look-like-a-virusy. Of course, you should probably keep a doesn't-use-much-memory version.[/QUOTE] Sure, any suggestions are welcome. What do you think would improve its looks? I tried to keep the layout close to Steam, as you can see in the screenshots of me chatting and trading with my alt.

[QUOTE=jhang;39952229]Sure, any suggestions are welcome. What do you think would improve its looks? I tried to keep the layout close to Steam, as you can see in the screenshots of me chatting and trading with my alt.[/QUOTE] Well, everything just looks like a ton of boxes. It should probably look more round, and not use solid colours. What I suggest is playing around with colours, and fades and stuff. Although the current colourset for it is very beautiful and I think you should keep something alike.

[QUOTE=LightFlock;39952332]Well, everything just looks like a ton of boxes. It should probably look more round, and not use solid colours. What I suggest is playing around with colours, and fades and stuff. Although the current colourset for it is very beautiful and I think you should keep something alike.[/QUOTE] Thanks. I'm not sure about using rounded corners though, because it just seems unprofessional in programs to me.

Make sure you don't use glossy buttons and gradients everywhere. That just looks gross and screams virus. Icons for the items would be nice, but I'm guessing you didn't include those to lower the filesize.

I think the default buttons and everything look fine to me, but I suppose I could replace them eventually with a flatter feel? Yeah, I was trying for functionality over looks. I was just happy to get it working! Although I think icons are possible, and could be downloaded as they are required... It'll be something to work on.

I'd love to be able to do some form of mobile trading.

[QUOTE=T3MPEST;39953781]I'd love to be able to do some form of mobile trading.[/QUOTE] This will be the closest you can get, I'm afraid. I don't think Valve has any plans to implement mobile trading any time soon, and neither do I.

Could always try and rewrite it for Android. Everything looks lightweight enough to fit, and run well on even dated hardware.

I've looked into it. Mist uses protobuf-net for a lot of things, which I don't think there's an equivalent implementation for in Android.

You have to put in your password? Nice try.

[QUOTE=RandomSpy;39954500]You have to put in your password? Nice try.[/QUOTE] I hope you're not too blind to notice that the source code is [B][I][U][URL="https://github.com/waylaidwanderer/Mist"]RIGHT HERE[/URL][/U][/I][/B] for anyone to look through. Compile it from source yourself if you don't trust the executable provided.

woah, this program that openly needs use of my steam account to chat/trade wants my account -password-? No deal man, no deal, I see right through that scam, Steam would -never- ask me for my password to log in.

[QUOTE=Mr. Magoolachub;39954566]woah, this program that openly needs use of my steam account to chat/trade wants my account -password-? No deal man, no deal, I see right through that scam, Steam would -never- ask me for my password to log in.[/QUOTE] The ironic thing is, somebody will read what you said and agree enthusiastically.

Why did you name it Mist? Thats the German word for manure, lol..

[QUOTE=Prollgurke;39954782]Why did you name it Mist? Thats the German word for manure, lol..[/QUOTE] Haha, I never knew that. Mist is a different type of Steam, literally. Both are water vapour :)