I used to enjoy playing Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic on Windows with various mods, but I've now switched to Ubuntu Linux. I understand that Proton creates a virtual Windows environment for installing Windows games on Linux. In Windows, modding is straightforward—typically, you just download mod files and drag them into the game's folder. However, on Ubuntu, I'm facing some obstacles: Ubuntu doesn't support drag and drop like Windows, and I'm unsure how to access the fake Windows directory Proton uses for the game files. I'm curious about how Linux gamers manage to install mods in such situations. I've heard of tools like Lutris or Heroic Games for mod management, but I'm hoping for a solution that works directly within Steam, if possible. At the moment, I'm running Ubuntu 25.04.
2 Answers
Actually, if you’re using Nautilus as your file manager, you can indeed drag and drop files! Proton's directories are accessible; when you right-click on the game in Steam, there’s an option to open the folder directly. Heroic Games is another option worth considering since it allows additional package installs, enhancing your gaming experience, but if you're sticking with Steam, it should work fine too!
To mod KOTOR on Ubuntu, you'll need to find your game's Steam ID on ProtonDB first. Then, open your file manager (make sure to enable hidden files), and navigate to `.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/[APPID]/pfx/` (replace [APPID] with your game's ID). Inside, you'll find an emulated Windows drive where you can navigate to `drive_c/Program Files (x86)/Steam/steamapps/common/`, and from there, you can drag and drop your mod files just like on Windows.
I checked, and Nautilus is indeed the file manager in Ubuntu. So I should be good to go with drag-and-drop on my setup? That's a relief!