Detailed Global Achievements :: Suggestions / Ideas

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Shamik Shinde 29 Jun @ 10:25pm

Detailed Global Achievements

Hi, I’d like to suggest a small but fun improvement to the Steam Achievements system.

Right now, I'm on a quest to 100% the achievements in Portal and I'm really enjoying the bonus maps. I noticed that the Global Achievements tab only shows the percentage of players who have unlocked each achievement, which is useful — but it could be a lot more engaging.

For achievements that track performance metrics (like completing a level under a certain time), the game already records your best score. It would be great if Steam also showed the world’s best score alongside the achievement, wherever applicable. For example, if someone beat a level in 10.5 seconds, and that’s the fastest globally, show that as a reference.

In short: for achievements where performance is measurable, show the top score or fastest time achieved globally. It adds a fun competitive angle and gives players an extra goal to chase.

Thanks!

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Showing 1-6 of 6 comments

Ben Lubar 29 Jun @ 10:30pm

So... Steam Leaderboards? Pretty sure Portal already uses those. Or at least some game-specific equivalent if it predates Steam Leaderboards.

I know for sure Left 4 Dead 2 uses Steam Leaderboards, so it can't have been that long after Portal 1 that they were added to Steam.

Shamik Shinde 29 Jun @ 10:39pm

Where do I find Steam Leaderboards?

Hey, Im Recon 30 Jun @ 12:21am

Pointless due to tools like SAM.

Shamik Shinde 30 Jun @ 1:41am

Well, I feel like something like this should be inbuilt and not a 3rd Party Application like SAM.

BJWyler 30 Jun @ 2:36am

Originally posted by Shamik Shinde:
Well, I feel like something like this should be inbuilt and not a 3rd Party Application like SAM.

That would require Steam having a deeper level of access to game information than is desired, so no thanks.

Unlocking achievements only requires a game to send a simple binary API signal to the Steam client, indicating that an achievement was completed. And that's all it should be.

SAM is a third party program that mimics that signal, and can also reset achievements so they can be completed again - similar to how the Steam Console can do it.

If you want leaderboards, then that is something the devs need to set up independant of Steam and the achievement system.

Last edited by BJWyler; 30 Jun @ 3:48am