Startup Millenium

A simple program to get the acheivement for a game called Garry's Mod. This acheivement requires you to open and close the game 1000 times.

You can find the latest release Here.

Configuration

A config.json is created next to the executable after the first run:

{
  "steam_app_id": 4000,
  "process_names": ["hl2_linux", "gmod"],
  "idle_read_threshold_mb_s": 10.0
}

The game is launched through Steam's steam://rungameid/<steam_app_id> URL handler, so Steam resolves the install location itself — no game path is required, on any platform. The app id is the same on every branch, so launching works whatever beta you've selected.

• steam_app_id — the Steam app id of the game (4000 for Garry's Mod).

• process_names — the running process(es) used to detect when the game is up and to close it. All listed names are matched, so a single config can cover more than one branch. Accepts either a single string ("gmod.exe") or a list. The name depends on the branch and how Steam runs it:

  Branch / runtime	Process name
  Windows (any branch)	gmod.exe
  Linux — default (32-bit)	hl2_linux
  Linux — x86-64 branch	gmod
  Linux — forced Proton	gmod.exe

  The Linux default lists both hl2_linux and gmod, so the same config works on the default and x86-64 branches. If your setup differs, set process_names to whatever pgrep -af gmod (or cat /proc/<pid>/comm) reports while the game is running.

• idle_read_threshold_mb_s — read throughput (MB/s) below which the game is treated as done loading and closed. The tool watches disk read activity rather than CPU: loading reads assets at hundreds of MB/s, and once the menu appears that drops to ~zero — even while the window is focused (CPU, by contrast, stays high at the menu and only falls when minimized). Default 10.0; raise it if your machine has heavy background read activity, lower it (above zero) to be stricter. Must be positive — a value of 0 or less is rejected and reset to the default. (Linux only — without /proc, other platforms instead wait a fixed ~60s settle before closing.)

Note

hl2_linux is the shared Source-engine binary name, so matching it could also close another native Source game if one is running. Narrow process_names (e.g. to just ["gmod"] on the x86-64 branch) if that matters to you.

Note

Steam must be installed and its steam:// URL handler registered (the default after any normal Steam install). Any per-game launch flags should be set in the game's Launch Options in the Steam client.