How to Implement Discord Rich Presence in Your .NET Application or Game Using C#

Introduction

Discord Rich Presence (RPC) allows developers to show detailed information about their software or games directly in users' Discord profiles. This feature is highly beneficial for creating engagement and visibility for your applications. In this tutorial, we’ll guide you through the process of implementing Discord RPC using C# and the NetDiscordRpc library in your .NET application.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have the following:

Basic knowledge of C# and .NET.
Visual Studio or another C# IDE installed.
A Discord Developer account to create an application for Rich Presence.
Install the NetDiscordRpc package from NuGet (NetDiscordRpc on NuGet ).

Setting Up Your Discord Application

Visit the Discord Developer Portal and create a new application.
Navigate to the "Rich Presence" section and add assets such as images or icons that will be displayed.
Take note of the Client ID, as this will be used in your C# project.

Installing NetDiscordRpc in Your Project

In Visual Studio, create a new .NET console project or add this to an existing project. Install NetDiscordRpc via the NuGet Package Manager Console:

Install-Package NetDiscordRpc

Alternatively, you can search for it in the NuGet package manager UI by right-clicking your project and selecting Manage NuGet Packages.

Basic Integration with NetDiscordRpc

Now that the library is installed, let’s set up the code to initialize Discord Rich Presence in your C# project.

using System;
using NetDiscordRpc;
using NetDiscordRpc.RPC;

namespace DiscordRPCExample
{
class Program
{
// Create a DiscordRpcClient instance
private static DiscordRpcClient client;

static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Initialize the Discord RPC Client with your Discord application's Client ID
client = new DiscordRpcClient("Your_Discord_Client_ID");

// Subscribe to events
client.OnReady += (sender, e) =>
{
Console.WriteLine($"Connected to Discord as {e.User.Username}");
};

client.OnPresenceUpdate += (sender, e) =>
{
Console.WriteLine("Rich Presence updated!");
};

// Connect the RPC client
client.Initialize();

// Set the initial presence
client.SetPresence(new RichPresence()
{
Details = "Using my custom software",
State = "Playing around with Discord RPC",
Assets = new Assets()
{
LargeImageKey = "large_image", // Name of the asset uploaded in the Developer Portal
LargeImageText = "Custom Software",
SmallImageKey = "small_image", // Optional small image
SmallImageText = "Version 1.0"
}
});

// Keep the application running
Console.WriteLine("Press any key to exit...");
Console.ReadKey();

// Ensure we properly dispose of the client when finished
client.Dispose();
}
}
}

Customizing the Rich Presence

You can customize the presence details based on the context of your software or game. The RichPresence() object allows you to set specific fields:

Details: A brief description of what the user is doing in your app.
State: Additional context about the user's state.
Assets: Set large and small images, which must be uploaded in the Discord Developer Portal.

Example customization:

client.SetPresence(new RichPresence()
{
Details = "Developing awesome software",
State = "Coding with C#",
Assets = new Assets()
{
LargeImageKey = "coding_image",
LargeImageText = "C# Developer",
SmallImageKey = "small_icon",
SmallImageText = "Version 1.1"
},
Timestamps = Timestamps.Now,
Buttons = new Button[]
{
new Button() { Label = "Join My Project", Url = "https://github.com/nexoscreator" },
new Button() { Label = "Follow Me", Url = "https://twitter.com/yourprofile" }
}
});

This setup shows a more detailed presence and adds buttons to the user’s profile, which can link to your project or social media.

Testing and Debugging

Run your project to start the Discord RPC. You should see the message “Connected to Discord” in the console.
Open Discord and view your profile; you should now see the Rich Presence details.
If the presence isn’t updating, check the Discord Developer Portal to ensure your Client ID and assets are correctly set up. Also, verify that the NetDiscordRpc package is correctly installed.

Common Issues

Client ID Misconfiguration: Ensure the Client ID used in your C# project matches the one from your Discord Developer Portal.
Images Not Appearing: Check that the image keys (LargeImageKey and SmallImageKey) match the names of the assets you uploaded to Discord.

Enhancing the Experience

You can further enhance your Discord RPC by updating the presence dynamically based on user actions within your software or game. For example, you can update the State or Details fields based on the level the user is playing or the task they are performing in your software.

Here’s an example of how you can dynamically update the presence:

client.SetPresence(new RichPresence()
{
Details = "Level 2 - Dungeon",
State = "Fighting the dragon",
Timestamps = Timestamps.Now,
Assets = new Assets()
{
LargeImageKey = "dungeon_image",
LargeImageText = "Entering the dungeon",
SmallImageKey = "small_icon"
}
});

Additional Resources

Source:Discord Developer Portal

Source:NetDiscordRpc on NuGet

Source:C# Rich Presence Example GitHub

Conclusion

You’ve successfully integrated Discord Rich Presence into your .NET application using C#. With this setup, you can now provide real-time updates to users' Discord profiles, increasing engagement and visibility for your software or game.

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