Yesterday, July 1st, they announced the Alpha release of this next-generation mod manager and their new Product Manager got in touch to mention they “would be really keen to get feedback from Linux users”. So this is your chance to ensure Linux (and Steam Deck) finally become a first-class citizen for game modding.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/17546163
Modding is one of those few gaming things that still remains a massive pain on Linux compared to doing it on Windows, if they actually commit to supporting Linux and making sure it works on Wine/Proton games as well this would be massive! I’ve been modding my games manually ever since switching but having a mod manager is just so so so much nicer.
Yeah, I have a friend who was very interested in switching to Linux on his gaming computer.
His game of choice is Arma 3, which I play and runs great on Linux. But then he asked me, “what about mods?” He plays Arma with a massive amount of mods, and not just Steam workshop ones, all kinds.
I tried to replicate all his mods on my installation as a proof of concept, but after over 2 hours, it still didn’t work.
Having really solid and easy modding would be awesome.
I wish more devs would just use Steam Workshop. It’s incredibly painless on Linux.
Edit: the word “just” seems to be triggering some people. Rest assured I meant it as in “just do it already”, and not “just do this and nothing else”
Porn and nudity mods are ones of the most numerous\popular categories for decades. Steam can’t allow that.
Not to mention there could easily be a court case where Valve gets told they can’t host mods that infringe on copyright and are told to remove it all and not accept anything like it.
Kiss goodbye to your Skyrim mods that add Thomas the tank engine characters as dragons, Spiderman as a playable character, LOTR characters and weapons, etc.
As much as I think steam workshop is great and convenient, it shouldn’t be the only accessible option.
Sure, but please after a general solution. I don’t want to be forced to use Steam to mod my games. Many of my games aren’t even on Steam!
Also I want it optional, so can control if Steam gets to see my Playtime.
I very much welcome the Nexusmods solution in comparision
I’ve been fortunate that the main games I want mods for, support it rather seamlessly on linux. R2modman for Lethal Company and other unity games, and Mod.io for Deep Rock Galactic.
I have used both and can confirm they worked great. There is also REFramework for recent Capcom games like Devil May Cry 5, Resident Evil entries and Monster Hunter Rise. Steam workshop compatible games like Rust and Don’t Starve Together also work great. My observation is it depends on if the mod framework the community chooses is compatible, or if the mod/framework author care enough for Linux support.
There’s r2modman for a lot of games, which is a native Linux mod manager using the Thunderstore for its mods. There’s also ModOrganizer2 which can work somewhat okayish on Linux but Protontricks, which is a dependency, is currently a sore spot. https://github.com/rockerbacon/modorganizer2-linux-installer