vgde (Video Game Data Explorer)

vgde is a Python tool for quickly exploring and fetching information about video games using the RAWG Video Games Database API. Enter the name of a game, and vgde provides details such as the release date, rating, description, and more—all right from your terminal.

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Features

• Fetches Live Game Data
  Retrieves up-to-date video game information from the RAWG API.
• Rich Output
  Displays game name, release date, rating, description, and a background image URL.
• Flexible Input
  Use interactive prompts or pass the game name directly as a command-line argument.
• Robust Error Handling
  Gracefully handles network issues, invalid input, and missing API key scenarios.
• Developer Mode
  Enable detailed debug logging for troubleshooting and development.
• Clean Description Display
  Removes HTML tags for readable output; truncates lengthy descriptions.
• Configurable Timeout
  Set request timeout duration via environment variables.

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🛠 Requirements

• Python 3.x
• requests Python library

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🚀 Installation

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/veddevv/vgde.git
   cd vgde

2. Install dependencies

   pip install -r requirements.txt

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⚡️ Usage

1. Set your RAWG API key
   Obtain a free API key from RAWG and set it as an environment variable:

   export RAWG_API_KEY='your_api_key_here'

2. Run vgde

   • Interactive mode

     python vgde.py

   • Direct mode

     python vgde.py "The Witcher 3"

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⚙️ Configuration

vgde can be customized via the following environment variables:

Variable	Required	Description	Default
RAWG_API_KEY	Yes	Your RAWG API key	—
DEVELOPER_MODE	No	Set to true, 1, or t to enable verbose debug logging	false
REQUEST_TIMEOUT	No	Timeout in seconds for API requests	10

Example:

RAWG_API_KEY='your_key' DEVELOPER_MODE=true REQUEST_TIMEOUT=15 python vgde.py "Portal 2"

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📝 Example Output

Game: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Released: 2015-05-18
Rating: 4.67 / 5
Description: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a story-driven, open world adventure...
Background Image: https://media.rawg.io/media/games/...

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🐞 Troubleshooting

• Missing API Key:
  Make sure you've set your RAWG_API_KEY environment variable.
• No Results Found:
  Try a different or more specific game name.
• Timeouts or Network Errors:
  Check your internet connection, or increase REQUEST_TIMEOUT.