Modding their favorite games is something that most players love. It allows them to enjoy a game in a lot more personalized taste. No matter which platform they’re on, players keep searching for options that allow them to download and install mods for their favorite games. For PC users, this process is quite straightforward. But that’s not always the scenario for players on Steam Deck. Nexus Mods’ Vortex Mod Manager is a fully customizable interface, that allows players to quickly access mods and manage these mods for different games on PC, but it can be installed on the Deck as well. Since Vortex doesn’t have an official Linux version, it can be quite a hassle setting it up on the Deck, and not every player knows how to do it. In this guide, we’ve shared all the details regarding how to install and use Vortex Mod Manager on Steam Deck. So, continue reading!
Nexus Mods’ Vortex Mod Manager is a key tool for players who want to mod their games. Although it’s officially supported on Windows only, you can use it even on the Deck’s Steam OS. While the process is a little complex, the functionalities make the trouble worthwhile. So, you can follow our guide and start using Vortex Mod Manager on your Steam Deck.
How to Install and Use Vortex Mod Manager on Steam Deck?
Modding your games on Steam Deck can become less of a headache if you use this mod manager from Nexus Mods. Here’s a breakdown of the whole procedure.
Installing Vortex Mod Manager
- Switch to Desktop mode on your Steam Deck. Then, open the browser, go to the official Nexus Mod website, and search for the Vortex Mod Manager, or simply click on this link.
- Once the .exe file is downloaded, open Steam on your Deck and go to Library.
- Here, click on Add a Game, and select the “Add a Non-Steam Game” option. Next, select Browse.
- Locate the Vortex installer in your Downloads folder. Select it and hit Open. Click on Add Selected Programs to add the installer to your Steam Library.
- Now, open the Vortex Installer’s tab in your Steam Library, click on the cog-wheel button, and open Properties. Here, select the Compatibility tab.
- Select “Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool” and choose Proton Experimental.
- Then, run the installer program, and click on Install. This will install Vortex as a non-Steam game, with all the prefix folders and everything. This is a crucial thing that you should remember. Vortex runs everything in a contained environment, inside the prefix folder.
- When the program is installed, click on Finish. Make sure to uncheck the Run Vortex option in the installer.
- After the installation, locate the installed program. For this, go to this directory: “Home/ .steam / steam / steamapps / compatdata“. Here, sort the files based on “time modified”, and the latest file on the list should be your Vortex folder. Note that Steam will assign an ID to Vortex, which will most likely be 2889241091. Open this folder.
- Now, inside this 2889241091 folder, go to this path: “pfx / drive_c / Program Files / Black Tree Gaming Ltd / Vortex“. Copy this complete path, from Home to Vortex.
- Once copied, go back to Steam Library and open the Vortex installer’s tile.
- Once again, open Properties and go to the Shortcut tab this time.
- Click the Browse… button under the “Target” section.
- Next, paste the copied path into the newly opened window’s address bar and click on the tick mark right next to the address bar. Doing so will take you to the directory you copy-pasted.
- In the Vortex directory, select Vortex.exe here. This should change the target path to Vortex instead of the Vortex installer. Don’t forget to put quotation marks before and after the complete path to make it work.
- After this, under the “Start in” section, simply paste the copied directory again. This should allow Steam to run the Vortex program instead of the installer.
Manage a Game through Vortex
- Once you have installed Vortex, run the program. If you don’t have .Net on your Deck, it might ask you to download it. Simply click on Fix and the files will be downloaded. Click OK to close the window.
- Now, inside Vortex, go to the Games tab. Here, you should search for the game for which you want mods.
- Click on Manage.
- Now, if it says that you need to download an extension to manage the game with Vortex, then download it. Here, you may need to log into your Nexus account for this.
- If the download gets stuck after you log into your Nexus account, cancel it, and then re-attempt the download. This should do it.
- Now, it should show that Vortex can’t find the game automatically. This is because Vortex runs everything from the contained environment inside the prefix folder. And surely, your game isn’t saved inside that folder. So, you will have to change that.
- To fix this issue, open the game’s tile in your Steam Library.
- Click on the cog-wheel button and open Properties.
- Go to Shortcut and copy the location that’s showing in the Start in textbox.
- Go to your file manager and open this path first: “Home / .steam / steam / steamapps / compatdata / 2889241091 / pfx / drive_c“.
- Now, on the left pane, click on Home again and select Open in New Tab.
- Then, paste the copied path from the game into the search box and hit OK.
- From this directory, move the game folder to the C drive of Vortex. You can simply drag the game folder to the previously opened tab to move it.
- Once done, go back to Vortex.
- Inside the file selector window (which is the contained environment of Vortex), go to My Computer and then open C: Drive.
- Now you should be able to locate your game folder here. Select it, then click on Open.
Adding Mods to the Selected Game
- Once the game is open in Vortex, click on the three-dots button on the game icon.
- Click on Open Nexus Page. This will open the Nexus Mods page for the specific game and you can search for the mods that you want.
- Open the page of the specific mod that you want, and go to the Files tab.
- Now, simply copy the URL of the page.
- Go back to Vortex, go to the Downloads tab, and then click on the “Click to open URL” option.
- Paste the link in the textbox, and select Download.
- Click on Continue and Vortex will open the mod link.
- Again, go to Files, and click on MOD MANAGER DOWNLOAD.
- Here, you’ll be prompted to log into your Nexus account. Do so, and then select Slow Download.
- This will download all the necessary files. You can open Vortex, go to Mods, and enable the downloaded mods from there.
- Now, since you moved the game folder under Vortex, Steam won’t be able to run it properly. So, you will have to change the location from the Shortcut option. Alternatively, you need to move the game folder back to its original path for this to work.
- For non-Steam games, you can change the Target and the Start in section in your game’s Shortcut as shared previously. However, Steam games won’t allow you to change the location, so for those, you have to move the folder back to the original path.
- Once done, run the game, and check if your mods are working.
- Remember that for Steam games, every time you have to download a mod, you need to move the game folder to the Vortex prefix folder. Then, upon completion, you have to again move the game folder back to run the game with the mods installed.
Well, although it is quite a hassle, this is how you can install and use Vortex Mod Manager on Steam Deck. Hopefully, you can easily mod your games now with the help of this guide. If you found this informative, keep visiting DigiStatement for more such gaming content and information!
