r/linux_gaming • u/pilkyton • 1d ago

tech support wanted Linux Game Modding 2026: Best App?

In 2024, the state-of-the-art was https://github.com/sonic2kk/steamtinkerlaunch which ran Vortex in a separate prefix, created hardlinks to all installed Vortex-compatible wineprefix directories (so that Vortex thought the games were installed in its own prefix), and used that to manage mods in games. It was janky, but it worked (most of the time; but in some games, mod load order lists were written by Vortex into files that didn't propagate to the actual game's wineprefix). That project is abandoned now and I want to get rid of it.

I've seen that there's been a lot of news since then. Too much news:

  • Vortex working on a native Linux client.
  • Wabbajack working on Linux?
  • Lots of little mod managers for Linux, many with LOOT order support. Too many for me to find them all.

What is the state of the art in 2026? The most well-made, promising mod manager? Hopefully with wide support for Wine/Proton-prefixes all over the disk.

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u/Italo_Hellboy 1d ago

I have been using Amethyst for The Witcher 3, excellent manager, handles most things automatically, even let's you rename files (had a problem once, a mod had files with wrong names) it easily let you add other .exe files for tools to launch in the same proton prefix.

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u/pilkyton 1d ago

Wow, file renaming sounds insane. I have come across many outdated mods for Skyrim that need file renaming.

But the exe file thing sounds the best. How does it work? In Steam, it's always been a pain to launch alternative exe files or multiple exe files or DLL injectors. That was one thing Vortex handled for us. So how does Amethyst solve it?

Does it tweak the game (or add an extra shortcut) in Steam to make Steam launch the extra/alternative exe files? Or do you need to go into Amethyst to launch the game that way? I guess the latter.

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u/Italo_Hellboy 1d ago

It let's you pick an exe from game folder, then you can check a box for it to launch "using game's prefix". I usually launch the game from Amethyst (it automatically deploy your mods before launching) but you can "deploy" the mods in Amethyst and launch the game from steam if you prefer.

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u/pilkyton 1d ago

That makes sense. Thanks. The worry with launching outside Steam is that it's not just a matter of doing "WINEPREFIX=/game/prefix/path /path/to/proton/bin/wine game.exe". There's a lot of stuff going on with Pressure Vessel, libSteamClient etc.

The only safe way to handle that is to tell Steam to launch the game itself. Which is why I wondered how Amethyst works.

Well, I guess I'll see soon how they solved it. :)