New Method For Tracking Steam Playtime on PC Launcher Accounts
Previously, the only way for this to work would be to copy your PC launcher files over to the Steam versions folder, but I’ve found a different workaround.
This method makes it so you no longer have to copy and paste your files again every time Wizard101 updates. The only “caveat” is that you have to keep a second installation of the game on your PC, so free up some storage if you’re low.
How to set up:
1. Install Wizard101 on Steam. You don’t need to launch it or do anything after, just install.
2. Find the location of your normal (non-steam) Wizard101 installation.
For example, mine is at:
E:\Program Files\KingsIsle Entertainment\Wizard101
3. In that folder, right click Wizard101.exe and create a shortcut. Rename this shortcut to only the word "shortcut"
4. Download the two files I made for this, LaunchOG.bat and HideConsole.ps1 and put them into your Wizard101 folder alongside the shortcut you just made.
5. Right click LaunchOG.bat and click edit. It will open notepad, and you now need to replace the 2 instances of my Wizard101 folder address with yours.
So, when you see E:\Program Files\KingsIsle Entertainment\Wizard101\HideConsole.ps1
and E:\Program Files\KingsIsle Entertainment\Wizard101\shortcut.lnk
You need to correct them to be your file paths.
6. Go to Steam and on the left sidebar in your library, find Wizard101 and right click it. Open properties and you’ll see “launch options” under the general tab. Paste this line into that box:
"E:\Program Files\KingsIsle Entertainment\Wizard101\LaunchOG.bat" %command%
Except, again correct the file path to match the one on your computer.
7. Click play on Wizard101 on Steam, a small terminal screen should flash and disappear and the launcher will open like normal. Your hours will now be tracked on Steam!
How it works:
The “LaunchOG.bat” points to the shortcut, opening the launcher. It stays active in the background checking if Wizard101 is still running, and when it notices the game closes, it stops. When you press play on Steam, it ignores the steam installation of the game and launches the .bat file instead. The .bat file also runs the HideConsole.ps1 file, which essentially just hides LaunchOG.bat’s terminal window because I found it annoying to keep open in the background.
It is all very bare-bones simple code, not a lot going on. Pretty much a glorified shortcut, except now you get the perks of tracking playtime. You will still have to download new updates to the Steam version as they come out (so that it lets you press the play button), but otherwise you don’t need to do anything else.
Also, if you usually use a desktop icon to launch your game, Steam lets you do this by right clicking the game in your library and going to manage>add desktop shortcut. Works flawlessly with this method.
Cheers
(Since I know somebody will ask, no you will not get banned, the commands don't interact with the game or its files in any way).