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Separate conversation from game facts
Think of the pet as two connected systems: a conversation layer that asks a model to generate text, and an observation layer that collects signals from sources the app can identify. The model can phrase or discuss information the app supplies; it should not be treated as a sensor that independently detects a running game, quest, match result, or player action.
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For each game-related claim, preserve three things: the value observed, where it came from, and when it was observed. If the app has no signal, the value is unknown—not a prompt for the model to guess. This boundary is a design recommendation based on the documented scope of the APIs below, not a requirement imposed by those vendors.
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Connect the pet to a local model
Use a local inference service
Ollama’s Windows documentation describes a native Windows application and a local API at http://localhost:11434. Its example sends a model name, prompt, and stream setting to the /api/generate endpoint. In this design, the pet’s interface sends a request to the local service, receives generated text, and displays it in the conversation UI.
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- BRING MORE LIFE TO YOUR DESK – Meet Eilik – your little robot friend with personality. With loving animations, expressive reactions, and playful interactions, Eilik brings more joy to your everyday life. Whether on your desk, at your workspace, or by your bedside, Eilik quickly becomes a familiar companion for special moments.
- EVERY INTERACTION BRINGS A NEW SURPRISE – Touch Eilik and discover playful reactions that bring your little robot friend to life. Whether you’re giving Eilik a gentle touch, picking Eilik up, or playing together, Eilik responds with expressive animations, charming expressions, and playful reactions. Every interaction reveals more of Eilik’s personality and makes your little companion feel even more special.
- READY FOR LITTLE MOMENTS, RIGHT AWAY – Eilik is ready to interact right out of the box – no complicated setup required. A simple touch is all it takes, and Eilik responds with expressive animations and charming reactions. Easy, intuitive, and full of little surprises that make every moment special.
- EVEN MORE FUN TOGETHER – Every Eilik has its own charm. Bring two or more Eiliks together and watch them interact in their own playful ways – they play, dance, tease each other, and create fun moments together. Whether with friends, family, or as a couple, more Eiliks mean even more ways to play and enjoy.
- MORE POSSIBILITIES AWAIT – Eilik is more than a little robot – it’s the beginning of a bigger world filled with new experiences. Expand your Eilik experience with AI Station for natural AI conversations and Panxer for exciting adventures. Regular updates also bring new animations, games, and surprises along the way.（AI Station and Panxer sold separately.）
Keep the model endpoint and model name configurable rather than assuming every installation is identical. The app should report a useful status if the service cannot be reached, the requested model is missing, or generation takes longer than expected; those are application-handling recommendations, not behaviors guaranteed by the API example.
A public Windows project, desktop-pet, illustrates another implementation shape: a draggable, always-on-top character, typed conversation in speech bubbles, and an OpenAI-compatible HTTP backend with Ollama as the default. It is one project example, not evidence that this layout or backend is best for every desktop or operating system.
Rank #2
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Choose a model against your hardware
Local inference requirements depend on the selected model and its configuration, including quantization. The desktop-pet project recommends a quantized 7B model and estimates roughly 5 GB of VRAM for that setup. Treat that figure as the project’s estimate for its suggested configuration, not a universal minimum, benchmark, or GPU buying recommendation. Check the runtime and chosen model’s requirements against the hardware you actually have.
What Steamworks can—and cannot—tell the pet
Steamworks is a game-facing SDK, not a general game-state feed for every desktop application. Valve’s Steamworks API Overview says integration is not required to ship a product on Steam. It also documents that an integrated game must initialize the API before using its interfaces, and gives GameOverlayActivated_t as a callback through which that game can learn whether the Steam Overlay became active or inactive.
Rank #3
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- 𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗚𝗣𝗧: Experience a new level of conversation with more natural, intelligent, and meaningful interactions. Powered by ChatGPT, Vector can answer complex questions, engage in richer conversations, and provide more insightful responses. 𝗥𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗚𝗣𝗧 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗮𝗽𝗽 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗽𝗽 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲).
- AI-Powered & Fully Autonomous: Vector navigates, recognizes faces, and reacts to his surroundings with lifelike independence — no remote control required.
- 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁: Vector can now understand multiple languages, making him the perfect smart companion for global households and language learners. Vector can now understand Spanish, French, German, Chinese and more! Say “Hey Vector.”
- 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗮 & 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘀:Built with an HD camera and advanced sensors for real-time mapping, facial recognition, and obstacle detection.
That callback establishes overlay activation for a game integrated with Steamworks; it does not establish that an unrelated desktop pet can query every game a user launches or read what is happening during gameplay. The Steamworks API Reference describes interfaces such as ISteamFriends, but the material documented there does not describe a general third-party API that reports all active games and their current in-game events to an unrelated pet.
As Valve puts it in the API Overview: “Integration with Steamworks is never required to ship your product on Steam, but it is highly recommended as it allows you to accomplish many interactions that Steam users expect.” For a pet builder, the practical implication is that Steamworks signals depend on game-side integration; do not assume universal access merely because a game is on Steam.
Rank #4
- 【BRING MORE LIFE TO YOUR DESK】 Meet Eilik – your little robot friend with personality. With loving animations, expressive reactions, and playful interactions, Eilik brings more joy to your everyday life. Whether on your desk, at your workspace, or by your bedside, Eilik quickly becomes a familiar companion for special moments.
- 【EVERY INTERACTION BRINGS A NEW SURPRISE】 Touch Eilik and discover playful reactions that bring your little robot friend to life. Whether you’re giving Eilik a gentle touch, picking Eilik up, or playing together, Eilik responds with expressive animations, charming expressions, and playful reactions. Every interaction reveals more of Eilik’s personality and makes your little companion feel even more special.
- 【READY FOR LITTLE MOMENTS, RIGHT AWAY】 Eilik is ready to interact right out of the box – no complicated setup required. A simple touch is all it takes, and Eilik responds with expressive animations and charming reactions. Easy, intuitive, and full of little surprises that make every moment special.
- 【EVEN MORE FUN TOGETHER】 Every Eilik has its own charm. Bring two or more Eiliks together and watch them interact in their own playful ways – they play, dance, tease each other, and create fun moments together. Whether with friends, family, or as a couple, more Eiliks mean even more ways to play and enjoy.
- 【MORE POSSIBILITIES AWAIT】 Eilik is more than a little robot – it’s the beginning of a bigger world filled with new experiences. Expand your Eilik experience with AI Station for natural AI conversations and Panxer for exciting adventures. Regular updates also bring new animations, games, and surprises along the way.（AI Station and Panxer sold separately.）
Represent game observations honestly
Use explicit states instead of turning an absent signal into a confident sentence. A compact state model can distinguish whether something was observed, whether a previous observation has gone stale, and whether the app has no answer.
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| State | What the pet may say | What it must not imply |
|---|---|---|
| Observed running | “The connected source reported this game running at 8:42.” | That the player is actively playing, or that any particular in-game event occurred. |
| Not observed | “I don’t see a game reported by my connected source.” | That no game is running; the source may not cover it. |
| Stale | “The last report was at 8:42, so it may be out of date.” | That the earlier state is still true. |
| Unknown | “I can’t tell what game you’re playing.” | A guessed title, progress update, match outcome, or player action. |
Choose a freshness rule for each source and show the observation time or a clear “last seen” label. When data ages past that rule, downgrade it to stale instead of continuing to present it as current. If a source reports only a game launch or overlay state, keep the claim at that level; do not let conversational context inflate it into gameplay knowledge.
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Pass verified context into the prompt
Give the model a small, structured context assembled by the app, rather than asking it to infer telemetry from conversation. For example, include a game field, source, observation time, and status. If the status is unknown or stale, instruct the model to say so plainly. The application—not the model—should decide whether a signal exists and whether it meets the freshness rule.
- Include only signals the app actually collected.
- Attach the source and timestamp to each game observation.
- Tell the model that missing information must remain unknown, not be completed from plausibility.
- Keep UI wording aligned with the signal’s scope: a running-process observation is not proof of current play, and overlay activation is not a game event.
Potential future signals such as operating-system process detection, launcher integrations, screenshots, or in-game mods each have distinct coverage and blind spots. The sources cited here do not verify those mechanisms for this project, so validate any such approach for the target operating system, launcher, and game before presenting it as a capability.
Decide platform scope before promising coverage
The documented local endpoint and public pet example here are Windows-oriented, while the Steamworks material concerns games that integrate with Valve’s SDK. These sources do not establish a cross-platform design or a cross-launcher method for identifying active games. Decide which operating systems, launchers, and game-side integrations the app will support, then describe its detection limits in the UI.
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