Alternative Way to "Rename" Steam Library Games

[Bananyafrog]

UPDATE: A new program is available that allows you to rename your steam library for more efficiently than this method. It's called SteamEdit, and can be downloaded for free here: http://steamedit.tg-software.com/. With it you can rename your games, change their sorting name, and even add new launch options. It is incredibly easy to use, and a far better method than previously available. And whenever steam updates and undoes these changes, it's as simple as running it and saving, rather than having to go through and rename everything again. If for whatever reason you don't trust third-party software, the below method will still work, but I absolutely recommend giving SteamEdit a shot. (And just to clarify, I did not create SteamEdit, I just use it.)

Since one of the more recent updates, renaming Steam games through the appinfo file is no longer possible, as it seems to redownload it if it detects any changes being made. This has proven quite annoying for those of us who prefer to have our games sorted in the proper order, be grammatically correct, remove extraneous trademark symbols, etc.

Well after trying to come up with a new way to get around this annoyance, I finally figured out a rather simple solution, and not seeing anyone else suggest the same, I thought I might as well share for anyone else as bothered by this new change as I was.

Step 1: Create a desktop shortcut for all the steam games you wish to rename.

Step 2: Once all shortcuts have been made, set each game you made a shortcut for to the "hidden" category. (right click game, set categories, check "hide this game in my library" box, click ok)

Step 3: Open Notepad, and add the following code:

@ECHO OFF
ECHO.
ECHO Launching
ECHO.
start
EXIT

Step 4: Save as something simple like Base.txt.

Step 5: Right click one of your Steam game desktop shortcuts, click properties, and copy the contents of the URL field.

Step 6: In your Base.txt file, paste the contents of the URL field after the word start (for example: start steam://rungameid/242880) and the name of the game after the word launching (this part is optional). Your Base.txt should now look something like this:

@ECHO OFF
ECHO.
ECHO Launching Madam, You Are Being Hunted
ECHO.
start steam://rungameid/242880
EXIT

Step 7: Save this file as GameName.bat, with GameName being replaced with the name of whichever game it is for. Repeat these steps for every game you made a shortcut for. Once you have a GameName.bat for each game, you can delete the steam made shortcuts from your desktop.

Step 8: Once you have a GameName.bat file for every game you wish to have renamed, use a program such as bat2exe (http://bat2exe.net/) and convert each GameName.bat file to a GameName.exe file.

Step 9: Add each newly made GameName.exe file to steam as a non-steam game, name as desired, add a grid image if using grid mode, and bask in your newly organized steam library.

This method has worked like a charm for me so far, and I hope it's able to help anyone else out there hoping to better organize their steam games. If anyone has any questions or concerns, I'll do my best to address them.

[DarkNight]

Tried renaming Counter-Strike this way, In friendlist always showed up as Counter-strike :(

[Bananyafrog]

Originally posted by dk:

Tried renaming Counter-Strike this way, In friendlist always showed up as Counter-strike :(

Yes, this method is strictly for renaming games in your library. It does not change how it shows up in your friends list, just how it shows up in your library view. This way all games will still launch, and your achievements/time played/etc. is still tracked.

[Soli]

There is a possibility to use the symbol of the game?

Thank you for a reply

[Chapy]

Thanks so much for sharing this. A quick way to skip a few steps is to set the actual batch file as the shortcut. To do that just add any .exe as a non-Steam shortcut, then right-click on the shortcut, go to Properties, click Change, set File Type to "All Files", and finally select the .bat file.

[Profile Name™]

Does anyone know how to make Non-Steam games hidden? For many years now, Non-Steam games can be created and displayed on the Library - Games section, but checking the 'Hide this game in my Library' box does not move the Non-Steam game into the Library - Hidden section.

[Bananyafrog]

Originally posted by postandreply:

Does anyone know how to make Non-Steam games hidden? For many years now, Non-Steam games can be created and displayed on the Library - Games section, but checking the 'Hide this game in my Library' box does not move the Non-Steam game into the Library - Hidden section.

At the moment I'm not sure you can. You used to be able to not long ago, but after one of the client updates a few months back, it no longer seems to work. I have no idea if this was intentional or not, but for the time being it doesn't seem possible, at least as far as I know.

[Profile Name™]

Thanks. By the way, there is a program called SteamEdit that lets you rename games. If you need help finding it or need help using it, let me know. It will make your life a lot easier.

[Bananyafrog]

Originally posted by postandreply:

Thanks. By the way, there is a program called SteamEdit that lets you rename games. If you need help finding it or need help using it, let me know. It will make your life a lot easier.

Haha, I actually just updated the original post a few minutes ago with that info. Been using it for a while myself, and had forgotten to update this post till you and another commented recently. Thanks anyway though :)