New machine coming soon. Fresh start! At the moment I've got Vortex installed on Ubuntu. It works fine (as long as you don't let it auto update) except it can't launch from my machine - if I want to look at it, I have to download something from Nexus and that will launch it. It used to launch OK but something has obviously happened.

I've also use Mod Organizer - which I liked a lot. But for some reason it stopped functioning so I re-installed Vortex.

What do other people use or do you manually install? I started off my gaming life by manual install as there wasn't anything else and I don't think I fancy going back there. It's like making bread by hand once you've owned a breadmaker!

I've gotten Mod Organizer working in Proton, WINE, and (on macOS) Porting Kit by running the 'portable version' and had very little friction, but I know it probably lacks all sorts of 'app-like' integrations with what Nexus has become in recent years. Depending on your relationship to that, that may be not enough modernity. Steam also can handle mod integration via Workshop for supported titles (assuming you have the game via Steam - to wit, I have not tried integrating Workshop with a non-Steam title running via Proton + Steam), depending on what games you're talking about and the level of complexity you're interested in. IME a lot of the "automated installer" stuff tends to abstract relatively simple processes, or muck about with fake directory structures, that obscure the actual workings of whatever game or mod, and can make troubleshooting a royal pain (doubly so with WINE/Proton/PortingKit's already abstracted directory structures), but I also know this kind of obfuscation has become ubiqitous in the era of the app. Sometimes doing things by hand is ultimately easier to live with.

One thing I do like about the 'portable version' configuration of Mod Organizer is that you can essentially "install" it (and therefore configure it) per-application (more accurately this would be per-prefix), as opposed to trying to treat it as a quasi launcher, which is great if you want/need to exercise that level of control.

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I've used Mod Organizer successfully in the past and I quite like it. It's happy being a mod organizer and has no aspirations to be something else. Sometimes I think that Vortex wishes it wasn't just a mod organizer. I've never tried the Steam Workshop route (at least I can't remember ever using it which amounts to the same thing). I'll try that. Thank you!

It was all we had in the past. The manual install. And it requires quiet and concentration (or then it really did because it involved so many folders!) I've resorted to manual install for some things that Vortex doesn't handle well and it doesn't handle every game either. But I have to admit with the number of mods I like to use and the frequency with which I like to change my set up - it would be a nightmare. Vortex has one big advantage in that it allows me to set up profiles with a different mod configuration. I can't remember if MO does that too... I'd sort of miss that for a bit.

So one thing that comes to mind here I think is context. A lot of game mods that I can think of are either a simple matter of adding a single additional file of some sort to a given folder, or running a single executable that patches something, which either way is pretty straightforward and doesn't (in my view) warrant another whole complete application and all of its depends. Using the Steam Workshop for many of those games is as simple as clicking 'add' and letting it take care of sync'ing that package and all is well. That said, there are a handful of games where this can get significantly more involved, such as with some Bethesda games (which afaik is where Nexus really started out before trying to become an 'everything app'), and the 'profile' support (which MO does offer in newer builds, in that it will do the 'fake install' of mods/assets into its own folder structure and then link it back dynamically - note that this can be quite obnoxious IMO to unwind if you want to put hands on the real files once its all been fed thru WINE/Proton) can be helpful there, as long as there's a clear understanding of what is being done under the hood. I don't know what all games Mod Organizer may or may not support, or where that level of complexity is really beneficial, but it should work with many of the Bethesda games. I remember ages ago there was also Wrye Bash, which was quite popular in the days of TES 4: Oblivion, and it appears it is still actively developed (and now on github), and appears to have quite a bit of supporting documentation to go along with it - may be something else to read into.

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I have this vague feeling that MO needed a separate instance for each game... but it's a while since I used MO. I'm about to receive a new PC so I really wanted to make up my mind as to what I was going to do with that. However, I went off and actually looked at Steam workshop and I'm seriously impressed. I think at some stage in the past I must have known about it and used it because I'd reviewed a mod but I most certainly haven't used it for years. It's great at how easy it is to subscribe and with that and Bethesda's mods in game, I don't think there would be many mods I'd miss out on - if it was *that* important I'd add them manually. The other games I play, I'm happy to mod manually. So, thank you for the workshop pointer! It really wouldn't have crossed my mind. Problem solved!

I take a look at Wrye Bash - I've heard of it but never looked.

It's really nice to find Linux gamers here! On the gaming sites - like Nexus - one tends to find it heavily dominated by MS users.